Each week MMAjunkie.com interviews the latest cast member eliminated from “The Ultimate Fighter: Team Hughes vs. Team Serra” with questions submitted by our readers. The sixth installment of “The Ultimate Fighter” airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Spike TV. Stop by MMAjunkie.com every week for “Ten TUF Questions.”

In last night’s dramatic fifth episode of “The Ultimate Fighter: Team Hughes vs. Team Serra,” Team Hughes fighter Paul Georgieff (5-1) got a call from home telling him his teenage cousin had unexpectedly passed away. Away from his family and grieving the loss of his cousin, Georgieff was then hit with another stunner: he could go home for the funeral, but he’d first have to fight his preliminary match on the show.

He did — but after nearly submitting his opponent early in the fight, Georgieff ultimately suffered a brutal knockout to Team Serra’s Troy Mandaloniz late in the first round.

MMAjunkie.com caught up with the University of Wisconsin-Madison engineering grad student to talk about the heart-breaking call from home, UFC President Dana White’s ultimatum, his relationship with coach Hughes, and the unfortunate ending to his fight. (All of the questions came from you, MMAjunkie.com readers.)

MMAjunkie.com: What was your thought process when you were deciding whether or not to go home after you learned your cousin had passed? And do you feel like the news affected you in your fight? (from readers “Doug D” and “vicious1856”)

Paul Georgieff: My thought process was that I knew I was going to be there for my family. It’d help me to be around my family. I had to go home — no question about it. It was a matter of whether I’d be allowed back on the show. I told them I’m going home either way. I had to go home. Family is family. As far as the fight, I’m not going to say I lost because of all that. I think it’s safe to say it was in the back of my mind and affected me a little bit. There are lots of factors in every fight, but this was a big one obviously.

MMAjunkie.com: Do you think the producers and editors accurately portrayed the series of events leading up to your fight? Dana White made it seem as though you had the choice whether or not to fight, but you said Dana pretty much made you leave. (from reader “Jim”)

Paul Georgieff: Yeah, they contradicted themselves in editing. Maybe the editors don’t know what the word “caveat” means. (laughs) Dana definitely said I needed to fight before I went home. He wasn’t being insensitive though. It’s just the way the timeline worked out. If I went home and then had to fight after I got back, I’d probably be fighting on that exact day I got back. I thought it’d be better to fight before then. If I tried to fight when I got back, I wouldn’t really be able to cut weight. It just didn’t make much sense.

MMAjunkie.com: Do you mind telling us how your cousin died? Had he been sick — or did it catch you completely by surprise? (from reader “Rich”)

Paul Georgieff: It was completely unexpected. But I don’t care to talk about the details.

MMAjunkie.com: I totally understand. Let’s move on. You mentioned that you’re studying to become an engineer. Do you consider MMA a hobby — and do you feel you’re at a disadvantage by not training full-time like other guys at your level? (from reader “Piggiero”)

Paul Georgieff: I train full-time too. It’s good that I consider it a hobby because it means I love it. It’s not a chore or something I don’t look forward to. I truly love the sport. My success and great record I have it partially attributed to me loving the sport so much. I’ve been training heavily for a long time. I’ve been a student and haven’t really really had a job for six years. It’s just studying and training. Lots of guys (on my level) just started training full-time, but I feel like I have for a while now, so I think that gives me an advantage.

MMAjunkie.com: Did you feel at all slighted that Hughes picked Troy rather than Jon “War Machine” Koppenhaver as your opponent? You had seemed to make it clear that you wanted to fight Jon. (from reader “Zal”)

Paul Georgieff: I was cool fighting either one. We had been discussing both of them. I would have preferred War Machine. But having seen him fight later in the show, it didn’t matter. Either one seemed like an easy fight.

MMAjunkie.com: Matt Hughes mentioned that your game plan was to get the fight to the ground. What, if anything, made you decide to stand and trade with Troy? (from reader “Jd Hidlebaugh”)

Paul Georgieff: I shouldn’t have felt comfortable because standing and trading isn’t my strong suit. It’s typical to get caught up trading. It’s exciting. I’ve been working a lot of standup. It’s something new, and I wanted to try it out. Most of my fights have been like strictly grappling contests. Sometimes you don’t consider consequences. You figure the worst that can happen is that you get a little roughed up.

MMAjunkie.com: Along those lines, Hughes wanted the fight to go to the ground. What specifically did he tell you to do to get the fight to the ground? Maybe close the gap for a takedown — or get in to pull guard? (from reader “Gabber”)

Paul Georgieff: No, to be honest, he didn’t spend a lot of time working on a game plan. We both knew I was good on the ground, so we decided that’s where I’d try to get the fight. (Assistant coach) Matt Pena and I had been working on some boxing and I had been shooting in. (Hughes) talks about game plans like we laid it out exactly. What he gave me were more like suggestions.

MMAjunkie.com: You mentioned that you fight primarily in Wisconsin. Do you train with any of the other UFC guys up there, such as Eric Schafer and Alan Belcher? (from reader “Zack”)

Paul Georgieff: No. But I do train with a guy Rob who used to fight in the UFC — but not any of those other guys, though I’ve seen Eric at some tournaments.

MMAjunkie.com: Hughes has started his own fight team. How was your experience with him? Do you have any desire to train full-time with him? (from reader “big_daddy_patty”)

Paul Georgieff: I think he’s a great coach, but he’s not a good fit for me. He’s more focused on the physical side of the sport and less focused on technique, that’s for sure. His idea is to stay in the best physical shape, and if you want something bad enough, you can get it. I’m a cerebral fighter and analyzer and work on techniques and fundamentals rather than basic wrestling. He’s a good guy and a good coach, but he’s not someone I’d chose as a coach for me.

MMAjunkie.com: Just from talking to the other guys in the house, which coach did you guys think was the better one? Did Team Hughes or Team Serra seem happier with their coach? (from reader “afefe”)

Paul Georgieff: Serra got along with his group really well. He’d come over and have drinks with his guys and stuff, which was pretty cool. Hughes was more like a father figure. That works for some guys, but not me. It just leads to resistance with me. I’ve already got a dad. So, it’s hard to say who was the better coach. It depends on the guy.

Want to submit a question for next week’s interview? Be sure to read MMAjunkie.com’s weekly episode recaps each Wednesday night. If you have a question for the eliminated cast member, be sure to leave it in the comments section of that post. We’ll choose the best questions for the following day’s interview.

ALBANY, N.Y. – MMAjunkie is on scene and reporting live from today’s UFC Fight Night 102 event at Times Union Center in Albany, N.Y., which kicks off at 5:45 p.m. ET (2:45 p.m. PT). You can discuss the event here.

ALBANY, N.Y. – Juliana Lima managed to plant J.J. Aldrich on her back early and often, and that proved to be the difference in their otherwise even bout. Lima used bodylock takedowns and an aggressive ground game to outpoint Aldrich en route to a unanimous decision (…)